Video
The Pumping Chantey “Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well”
Transcript
Hello, my name is Peter Kasin, a park ranger at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, bringing you another sheltered-in chantey. Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well was used at the pumps. Pumping out water from the bilge was the most hated, back-breaking and monotonous in what was a series of hated, back-breaking and monotonous jobs aboard ship. So this chantey, as all chanteys, would not only help set rhythm, but would help ease that work.
This is a Liverpool version of Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well, collected by Stan Hugill, and Hugill said that this was one of the most popular of the homeward bound chanteys. We know Liverpool today as the birthplace of famous British rockers such as the Beatles and the Stones. Long before that, it was mostly known as one of the great ports.
You'll hear about the Wallasey Gates, and Wallasey is one of several townships at the entrance to Liverpool, at the entrance to the Mersey River. You'll also hear about Lime Street, originally named for Lime Kilns that gave off a very noxious odor right near a hospital, so those kilns were later moved to the outskirts of Liverpool, but the name Lime Street stuck.
So, Lime. Well, Lime Street was notorious as a place where sailors could indulge in the strong drink and carnal pleasures that they couldn't get many months out at sea. And just as the sailors were poverty-stricken and exploited, so were the Liverpool "Judies," their name for the sex workers ashore.
As with all chanteys, feel free to sing along on the chorus. So, here we go with Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well.
Oh, don't you hear the old man say (Chorus): Goodbye fare-ye-well, goodbye fare-ye-well Oh, don't you hear the old man say (Chorus): Hooraw, me boys, we're homeward bound
We're homeward bound to Liverpool town (Chorus): Goodbye fare-ye-well, goodbye fare-ye well Where asl them Judies they will come down (Chorus): Hooraw, me boys, we're homeward bound
And when we gets to the Wallasey Gates (Chorus); Goodbye fare-ye-well, goodbye fare-ye-well Sally and Polly, their flashmen do wait (Chorus) Hooraw, me boys, we're homeward bound
An' one to the other you'll hear them say (Chorus) Goodbye, fare-ye-well, goodbye fare-ye-well Here comes Johnny with fourteen months pay (Chorus): Hooraw, me boys, we're homeward bound
Them gals there on Lime Street we soon hope to meet (Chorus): Goodbye fare-ye-well, goodbye fare-ye-well Soon we'll be rollin' both sides of the street (Chorus): Hooraw, me boys, we're homeward bound
We're homeward bound, we'll have yiz to know (Chorus): Goodbye fare-ye-well, goodbye fare-ye-well An' over the water to Liverpool go (Chorus): Hooraw, me boys, we're homeward bound
Description
"Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well" helped ease the work of emptying the bilge - one of the most hated, back-breaking and monotonous jobs aboard ship.
Duration
3 minutes, 46 seconds
Credit
Peter Kasin
Date Created
09/25/2020
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